


The Veteran's Reminiscence

by Kori_no_sekai



Category: Skeleton war - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 13:26:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12582900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kori_no_sekai/pseuds/Kori_no_sekai
Summary: While at a family gathering, an old man recalls his days as a soldier in the never ending conflict against one of the world's greatest adversaries...





	The Veteran's Reminiscence

Bobbing for apples is hard when you don’t have a lower mandible. It’s heart breaking, really. All your kids and grandkids are lining up at the basin and all you can do is sit and watch them.

My littlest granddaughter comes to me and pulls my hand. “Grandpa, come on. It’s so much fun!” I can’t even speak to her to tell her why I can’t. I can only squeeze her hand and shake my head until her mother comes and picks her up. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to see everyone in good spirits, especially at a time like this. I try to make light of it, and I don’t mean to be a downer in front of everyone, but it’s hard. Even now, it’s hard.

I never wanted to go off to war. My mother wept the day we learned I’d been drafted. It was bad back then, worse than it is now, which is saying something. Yet, kids these days make a joke of it. It’s been years since the last draft, and I don’t think they understand how horrible things can get in the thick of battle, when your fellow soldiers are falling like flies around you, and you’re staring death in the face.

But I remember. Oh, do I remember.

It was all out guerrilla warfare back then; every soldier for themselves. I don’t think anyone really knew what we were up against, and that was where things fell apart. The enemy just wouldn’t quit. They still haven’t.

By some miracle, I survived, but there are plenty of others still scattered across the battled field, good folks who never got to see their families again. I only left my jaw and a leg behind; a small price to see my mother and sisters again.

I was in a real bad spot for a while. The horrors of the fighting replayed over and over in my head. I’d lost a lot of good friends out there. I’d see their faces in my dreams, their mangled bodies scattered at my feet. Part of me wished that I could have stayed there with them and died a hero.

Things did get a little better after a few years. Because I’d been injured, I wasn’t required to go back to the front. I got married, we had a few kids, and then those kids had kids. It was more than a lot of veterans ever get a chance at, and I was grateful.

I love my family dearly, and it pains me that this conflict is still raging in their lifetimes, now more than ever. The party tonight is for my grandson. He leaves for the front tomorrow, and all I can do it pray that he’ll come back to us in one piece.

Mark my words: the Skeleton War is no laughing matter.

**Author's Note:**

> Meant to post this earlier in the month, but Halloween will have to do. One of the prompts to come up during my writing club was "Bobbing for apple is hard when...", and the story spiraled into a recollection by a veteran of the Skeleton War.


End file.
